Peter Gallagher

We found that the reg­u­la­tions that impose costs are Aus­tralian reg­u­la­tions, whether or not they have been adopted in con­for­mity with inter­na­tional oblig­a­tions. Many of these reg­u­la­tions are imposed by the State gov­ern­ment in accor­dance with the national reg­u­la­tory frame­work for food stan­dards. Oth­ers are imposed directly by the Fed­eral gov­ern­ment, mostly under export health-certification laws or under quar­an­tine laws on imports. All of the reg­u­la­tions impose some costs on firm in the food indusry. But most of them—contrary to the pro­vi­sions of the national reg­u­la­tory framework—have not been assessed for the net ben­e­fits that they offer.

Inquit’s full report is avail­able from the VCEC web­site.